Love Is Blind
by Vintage Red Car
Summary: Ally Dawson, a young waitress working at her father's restaurant, is perfectly okay with her twenty-one-and-single status. Her friends, however, are not. They insist on setting her up on blind date after blind date, and each guy seems weirder than the last. And the worst part? She just might be falling for the restaurant's cute barista, Austin Moon. AU and slightly OOC.
1. The Rude Cheapskate

**Disclaimer: Austin and Ally is over, so in a way it doesn't exist anymore, meaning it's nothing. Nothing is owned by no one and everyone, so in a way, we all own Austin and Ally, right?**

 **…**

 **Okay, just ignore my weird logic; I do not own Austin and Ally.**

* * *

Ally Dawson checked the time. 8:30. God, there were so many other things she could be doing on her night off. Like reading. Or clipping her toenails. Or mowing some stranger's lawn. Really, anything was better than waiting another hour for a blind date to show up.

Just as she began to seriously consider leaving, a man, a rather handsome one at that, sat down in the chair across from her. "Ally Dawson?" he shot her a smile and held out his hand. She took it and nodded, sending him a slightly timid smile of her own. "Hi, I'm Logan Shaw." Maybe he had a problem with punctuality, but he was definitely making up for it in the looks department.

"D'you wanna order?" he asked her and she nodded, pretending to study the menu, even though she had already decided what she wanted nearly fifty minutes ago.

"Yo, can we get someone to take our order over here?" Logan yelled, waving his hand in the air and Ally internally winced as the whole restaurant looked at them. After five minutes or so a waitress came over and Logan muttered "Took you long enough," just loud enough for both her and the waitress to hear. This time Ally didn't try to hide her cringe. She hated rude people in general, and people who were rude to wait staff in particular, considering she herself worked as a waitress.

"I'd like the chicken casserole," Logan said and then took out his phone.

"And I'd like the filet mignon," Ally said after an awkward beat. Oh, how she wished she had left after the first half hour.

"Will do. Your food will be here in twenty minutes or so," the waitress, Lisa, according to her name tag, told them. "In the meantime, can I offer you anything to drink?"

"We'll take two glasses of Chianti," Logan looked up from his phone for a moment. When he saw the waitress was still there, he made a shooing gesture with his hand, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Ally wrinkled her nose. She hated red wine, and she knew that the brand Logan ordered for the both of them-without consulting her, might she add-was an especially cheap kind. Maybe if she could text Trish to get her out of here…

Just as she began reaching for her phone, Logan looked up from his. "So, how do you know Dallas?" he asked, referring to the person who set them up. Great. _Now_ he tries to make conversation.

"His girlfriend, Cassidy, and I are coworkers, so I met him through her. What about you?"

"Dallas and I go to the same gym. He heard I was having some lady problems-" _I wonder why_ , Ally thought –sarcastically, needless to say- to herself "-and told me he had a lovely lady to set me up with. And might I say, you don't disappoint," Logan sent her what Ally thought was supposed to be a charming smile, but was rather sleazy instead. After a moment his brow wrinkled. "Wait, doesn't his girlfriend work at a restaurant called Dawson's?" Ally nodded. "So… your last name is _Dawson_ , and you work at a restaurant called _Dawson's?"_

"Err… yeah. My dad owns the place and I work there so I can learn how to run the restaurant once he retires."

"Wait, so what you're saying is we could have eaten at your dad's restaurant but instead I'm stuck paying for a meal?"

Ally nodded slowly.

"Well, then I believe it's common courtesy if you pay for my food as well as yours, considering you could have just saved us both the trouble of paying for food. People these days, really," Logan nodded to himself as if the problem was solved and then returned to his phone. Ally saw that as her chance to finally text Trish.

 _TRISH! CALL ME ASAP!_ She quickly typed in. Sure enough, after a few seconds, her phone began to ring.

"Ally? What's up with all the exclamation points?" Trish asked when she answered.

"Oh no, Trish, your great aunt Bertha just died? Oh, I'm _so_ sorry," Ally told her.

"What? Ally, what are you talking about? I don't even have a great aunt, much less one called _Bertha_ -"

Ally cut her off. "I know, I know, you were very close to her, and I understand you need the moral support, but does it have to be _right now_? I'm kind of on a date," she sent Logan a faux apologetic look.

"Good! So get on with your date and let me finish waiting tables! Your dad is glaring daggers at me and you know I'm already walking on a thin li-"

"Fine, I'll come over as soon as possible. Try to stay strong 'til I get there," Ally cooed into the phone, trying to sound as if she was comforting her mourning best friend rather than desperately trying to flee an awful date. She quickly hung up the phone before Trish could say anything else.

"Logan, I'm so sorry, but my best friend's great aunt just passed away, and she really needs me there with her right now," she told him, getting up and putting her coat on.

"Wait, what about the food?" Logan called after her as she made her hasty escape.

"I heard it's great. You can even eat my filet mignon!" Ally sent him a cheeky grin and left the restaurant.

As she walked to her car her phone started ringing again.

"Ally Dawson! I swear to god if you hang up on me _one more time_ I will burn down your whole restaurant!" Trish yelled at her before she could even say hello.

"First of all, you wouldn't do that. You _need_ this job. And second of all, I'm sorry. I'll explain everything to you tomorrow, promise."

"Fine," Trish grumbled. "But this better be good," she hung up pointedly.

Ally rolled her eyes and then decided to send Dallas a quick text. _You're in SERIOUS trouble. Watch your back._

* * *

"So Ally, can you please tell me why my boyfriend is so terrified he refuses to leave our apartment?" Cassidy asked her the next day while they were sitting next to the bar at Dawson's, waiting for customers to arrive. Austin, the barista, snorted at Cassidy's sentence.

"Yeah and why you _hung up on me_ last night," Trish joined the conversation.

"Trish, get over it! I said sorry, like, seventeen times!"

Trish grumbled and shrugged.

"Anyways, Cass, to answer your question, Dallas set me up on a blind date last night," Ally began, gaining Austin, Trish and Cassidy's full attention.

Before she could continue though, the restaurant's youngest chef, Dez, joined them, and assessed the situation. "Ooh, is Ally telling another bad date story? I wanna hear too!"

Ally rolled her eyes. "So Dallas set me up with some guy he knew from the gym. The guy, Logan, was _an hour late_ , which was an awful way to start to a horrible date-"

"But didn't you date some guy who was perpetually late for a month a while ago?" Cassidy asked. "Doesn't seem bad enough to start threatening my boyfriend."

"Or hang up on me."

"Trish! Where was I? Oh, yeah, so after he arrived, Logan was on his phone most of the time, except for when he was reproaching me for not telling him we should eat here so he wouldn't have to pay for his food, or when he was demanding _I_ pay for both our meals as compensation. Plus, he ordered red wine for the both of us, without asking me if I was okay with it first," Ally finished.

"Was it at least _good_ red wine?" Austin asked.

Ally shook her head, and despite the lousy date she had just finished talking about, she couldn't hide a grin. It was just so typical of Austin to ask that. "Nope. He ordered Chianti."

"What?!" Austin seemed horrified. "Wh-who orders _Chianti_? And on a first date, no less? Cass, if Dawson doesn't kill Dallas, I will."

Cassidy rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. Austin was highly pedantic when it came to drinks, some would even call him obsessive (Trish) or a perfectionist (Dez). But that made him a great barista, so no one could really complain.

"Maybe you should have your dates here from now on. That way we'll be able to monitor the situation, and Austin will be able to make sure no one tries to poison you anymore with cheap red wine," Trish suggested. "And the way to a guy's heart is through his stomach, so someone might come for the food and stay for the Ally."

"That sentence was so weird I'm surprised I understood it," Ally said dryly. "But… that might actually be a good idea."

"Great, so it's settled. And lucky for you, my aunt got remarried a few weeks ago, and my new step cousin, Mike, is absolutely perfect for you. We talked a bit at the wedding and he seems just like your kind of guy, all about how being yourself is important and blah blah blah. Plus, he's hot. I can try to set the two of you up, if you want," Cassidy offered.

Ally considered the offer. On the one hand, after last night's disaster, she wasn't very eager to go on another blind date, but on the other hand, if Mike was as sweet as Cassidy described, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Then again, the last time Cassidy had set her up on a blind date, the guy got drunk twenty minutes in and tried to steal her car. Although, the time before that-

"Dawson," Austin cut off her inner debate, "You're overthinking it. Either you want to go on the date, or you don't. No need to start planning the potential wedding."

"I wasn't planning the wedding!" Ally rolled her eyes at him, and then turned to Cassidy, "Fine I'll go on the date. But you best be a better judge of character than your boyfriend or so help me, Cassidy."

* * *

 **So, in my previous story I said I'd leave it up two a vote on whether to keep this as a one-shot or turn this into a multi-chap. It was tied, so I wanted to keep it as a one-shot, but I realized that it'll take me forever to complete it, what with school and everything, and I felt bad, so I decided to split it up into a multi-chap. Sorry if this causes any inconveniences.**

 **Anyways, welcome to my first multi-chap (yayyy). This'll probably be, like, seven chapters (and maybe an epilogue). The next chapter is also finished, so I might post it next week, depending on whether I'll write something for Valentine's Day or not.**

 **I haven't got a lot of inspiration lately, so if you guys have an idea or prompt you want me to write send me a message or write it in the comments.**

 **By the way, I think this may be the first story I'm posting that I wasn't half asleep while writing (unless it's horrible, in that case I'm sleep writing and will have no recollection of this in the morning, okay? Okay. (Maybe okay will be our always (sorry, my friend is obsessed with** ** _The Fault in Our Stars_** **and it's kinda stuck in my head (sorry again, these are a lot of parenthesized side notes)))).**

 **Thank you all for reading, and have a good day.**

 **P.S. The only thing I'm sure I like about this story is the cover. It took me a few hours to make it, but I'm rather proud.**

 **P.P.S. Sorry, that was a long author's note, if you read it all the way through, I admire you. I'm actually really quiet in real life. Yeah… I'll just stop talking now.**


	2. The Sex Addict

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

 **Also, to address a question by** **Lookin' For Treble** **, Austin is mostly a barista (** **coffees, macchiatos, tea, hot chocolate** **), as Dawson's is a fancy café/ restaurant, but most of the fancy cafés I've been in usually offer a few wines and/ or cocktails, so he makes those too. Sorry if it was unclear to anyone.**

 **WARNING: stronger T rating than most of what I've written so far.**

* * *

Mike was five minutes early, pulled out Ally's chair for her, and all in all was very polite. He even ordered an Austin-approved wine.

Safe to say, the date was going rather nicely, until… "So, what's your favorite position?"

" _Excuse me_?" Ally was so surprised by the question she nearly choked on her garlic-and-rosemary grilled chicken.

Mike waited patiently for her to finish coughing before he repeated the question. "What's your favorite position? Y'know, as in sexual position."

"I- I don't- I've never really- I'm not into-"Ally stammered, not sure how to get out of the conversation with her innocence still intact.

"Are you a virgin?" Mike seemed genuinely interested.

"Oh, my god," Ally muttered to herself. "Okay, that is really none of your business," she said out loud.

"No need to feel embarrassed about it, we were all at that stage at some point in our lives,"  
Mike laughed as if he had just told a great joke. When he noticed Ally didn't join in on the laughter he continued, "Hey, it's okay to not have a lot of experience. If you're feeling shy, I'm willing to share first."

"No, that's fine-"

Mike ignored her protests, and for the next twenty minutes, Ally found herself listening to him describe various poses he liked in the bedroom. She couldn't begin to imagine most of the situations he described, but she was pretty sure the ones she could even vaguely picture would leave her scarred for life.

Ally looked around for someone to save her from the torture. Cassidy, Gloria, Nathan and Beth, the waiters, were busy waiting tables, Gus, the host, was showing people to their tables, her father was dealing with paperwork in his office and Trish had the night off. Finally she caught Dallas, who had deemed it safe to leave his apartment again, and Austin sitting at the bar and watching her. They must have found her red face and horrified expression hilarious, for they both burst out laughing. When she desperately mouthed _save me_ to them– Mike was too busy talking to notice– they cracked up even more. Dallas was clutching his stomach and Austin even wiped away a fake tear. Assholes.

When Mike began talking about his favorite places to… err… do the dead, Ally just decided to tune out of the conversation. _Go to your happy place. You're in a small meadow with a pond and geese and pickl- oh, my god, he did_ not _just say that. I am never using public transport again! Ew, I need to bleach my brain._

Finally Mike finished. "So, what about you?"

"Umm…"

"Still shy? Don't worry, you'll open up to me soon enough," Mike winked at her. _In your dreams buddy_.

"Anyway, do you work out?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Not much, no. Exercise isn't really my thing," Ally told him, relieved by the change of the conversation topic.

"That's what I thought. Well, you should know that sex burns quite a few calories. It might help you lose a bit of the flab you've got around the waist," he chuckled.

That hurt. Especially since she was wearing a dress that could hide any (nonexistent) flab she might possess. She really hoped Mike's father wasn't at all similar to his son; otherwise Cassidy's aunt married a huge jerk.

They were quiet for a while, Mike eating his food and Ally trying to find a way to get out of this date. Maybe she could "kill" another one of Trish's relatives.

"So," Mike said after he finished his salad, twirling his fork in his hand. She should probably burn it, as well as his knife, plate and chair. "What's your opinion on monogamy?" he winked _again_. Why did he do it so much? Did he think it was alluring? Did he have some incontrollable eye twitch? Either way, it drove Ally crazy, and not in the way he probably intended.

"I-"

Mike cut her off. "I don't really believe in it. I mean, how can you expect a man to be satisfied only with his wife? Life will get boring after a while, don't you think? Though, for the right women, I'm willing to try," he finished with another wink.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," Ally stood up abruptly.

Mike stood up as well. "So, my place or yours?"

"Neither!" she almost yelled, attracting the attention of a few customers.

"Oh, are we going to a back kitchen or something?" the guy just couldn't catch a hint, could he?

"No! Now, please get out of my restaurant and don't come back here ever again, thank you." Ally pushed him out of the door, and an amused looking Gus held the door open for them.

"Feisty, I lik-" Gus shut the door in his face. "So I'm guessing he's not ' _the one_ '," he air quoted the words for emphasis.

"I'm afraid not," Ally smiled tiredly at the fifty year old man. He was a second father figure to her, the one who picked her up from school and bandaged her scrapped knees when her parents were too busy. He worked at the restaurant ever since her father had opened it.

"Well, if he gives you any trouble, tell me, and I'll take care of him," Gus patted her arm comfortingly and then turned to greet a couple who had just arrived.

Ally went to the bar and sat down on one of the high chairs, burying her head in her arms and groaning. She heard Austin tinkering with a few objects.

"So, how was the date?" Dallas asked her, laughter evident in his voice. "You seemed to really enjoy it."

Ally lifted her head and shot him and Austin a death glare. "I hate the both of you. The guy has a sex drive bigger than Russia! I have lost all of my innocence tonight, and you two were no help! And he also implied that I'm fat! I'm an _extra small_ , for heaven's sake!"

"Dawson, you're twenty-something, you aren't supposed to be innocent anymore," Austin told her.

"First of all, it really shouldn't be that hard for you to remember my age, considering you're only a year older than me, and second of all, I'll be as innocent as I please."

"Fine, sorry," Austin handed her the drink he had been preparing. "Will some ginger and cinnamon tea make it better? I even added some honey. By the way," he added when Ally took a sip, "I also heard it's great for losing weight, so…"

Ally choked on her tea. "I-but- _extra small-_ " she sputtered.

"I'm kidding, Dawson, calm down. You're pretty and thin enough just the way you are," Austin laughed.

"Well it's not funny," Ally glared at him. "I've half a mind to tell my father you helped corrupt my innocence."

That shut him up. "Aww, c'mon Dawson, your dad will think we… _did something_ , and I'll lose my job, and possibly my life. Plus, we both know it'll never happen."

That stung. Badly. She may or may not have developed a tiny, minuscule, microscopic, nearly invisible crush on Austin. It was just… the way he always left the spoon in her tea, just the way she liked it, and the way he could be at ease with anyone, and his smile, and his eyes, and his hair… but really, her crush was so small it was barely noticeable.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she grumbled, continuing to sip her tea.

* * *

"So, how did it go? Did you like him?" Cassidy plopped down next to her later that night, when the last of the customers were leaving. Ally hadn't moved from her place next to the bar, and was staring moodily at the wall.

"Your step cousin is a huge perv," Ally told her monotonously.

"Err… is he at least a _cute_ perv?" Cassidy asked.

Ally scowled at her.

Cassidy raised her hands in mock surrender . "Fine, I'm sorry I set you up with a perv. I honestly didn't know that Mike was like that. At the wedding he came off as sweet."

"It's okay, you didn't realize what kind of a guy he is," Ally sighed.

Cassidy patted her back and went to help the other workers with the cleanup.

"Hey, Ally?" Austin asked her. His tone, and the fact that he used her first name, indicated that he was serious for once.

"Yeah?"

"Mike didn't…. he didn't touch you against your will in any way, did he? Because if he did I'll-"

"Austin, it's okay," she cut him off. "He didn't do anything to me. But thanks for caring." She softly kissed his cheek and then left the restaurant.

* * *

The two weeks after ' _The Mike Disaster_ ' (which everyone had agreed to keep from her father), were free of blind date offers. So imagine Ally's surprise when Gloria, who, at sixty-something was the oldest employee at the restaurant approached her with one. "Ally, dear, I was talking with my friend Betsy, and she said that her grandson, Connor, is a very well mannered, handsome young man, but he just can't seem to find a girl, so I told her I'll ask you if you're interested in meeting him. What do you say?"

Ally nearly dropped the tray she was carrying, but righted herself at the last moment. Since when did _Gloria_ offer her blind dates? It was usually the younger employees, excluding Austin, who tried to set her up with any bachelor in Miami. This made her feel as if her situation was rather dire. She was usually perfectly fine with her twenty one and single status, but if Gloria –who was single herself– thought she needed a guy in her life then maybe-

"Hey, umm, Miss? Can I maybe get my food?" the customer who had ordered whatever it was she was carrying distracted her from her slightly depressing train of thought.

"Oh, sorry," she set his food before him and then turned to Gloria. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

* * *

 **Thank you all for the positive response to the last chapter, it really means a lot to me.**

 **This chapter was really awkward to write because I'm fairly innocent for my age (don't judge me), and I had to stop writing whenever someone walked by the computer, especially my eight years old brother and sister.**

 **I probably won't have a new chapter ready for next week because I have a history test and an English test this week, and both are huge. Sorry :(.**

 **Review replies (God, I hope I did this right):**

 ** _Lookin' For Treble_** ** _: Ooh yay! I'm so excited for this story! I just have one question, heh. Is Austin a barista, as in like coffees and macchiatos, or a bar tender, as in wines and beers and mixed drinks?_**

 **Okay, so I am totally freaking out that you're excited for my story because you're an awesome writer, and I love your work** **. I'm, like, bouncing in my seat while typing this. Umm… sorry if I came off as weird, I swear I'm usually normal. By the way, I answered your question at the top, and sorry for any vagueness.**

 ** _Rauslly-and-Percabeth-Rock_** ** _: I really liked this first chapter. The plot is quite interesting. Although, I thought that Austin and Ally didn't know each other. So I'm pretty curious to see how their romance will develop since they're already acquaintances. Can't wait to read more!_**

 **First off, I love your username and I completely agree, just putting that out there. Second, Thank you so much!**

 ** _Keke3011_** ** _:_** ** _Lol. That was amazing! I can't wait to read more!_**

 **Eeep! I'm gonna assume because of that lol that you found it funny, which makes me really happy because I am generally considered a not-funny person. Puns are my favorite kind of jokes, but people don't really appreciate them these days :/**

 ** _PerfectPictureofanAngelsSmile:_** ** _Heart eyes can't wait to read more!_**

 **Again, freaking out because I love the stories you write.**

 ** _Guest2,Guest, Dont-Stop-Believin, Catm222, adorableness, Auslly0731_**

 **Thank you all so much!**

 **Happy Valentines Day, and thank you all so much for reading!**


	3. The No-Show

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

* * *

Ally absolutely hated Thursdays. She had a morning shift at the restaurant, then afternoon classes at the University of Miami, where she was studying to get a business degree, and then another shift in the evening. This Thursday was even worse than most. Her car broke down, it was raining cats and dogs and her bag ripped so she had to carry all of her books as well as try to grip her umbrella tightly enough so that it won't fly away in the ever strengthening wind. Really, there was absolutely no way this day could get any wors-

"Oh, come on!" Ally cried as she watched her umbrella get carried away from her by the wind. The walk from the university to the restaurant was only twenty minutes, but without her umbrella or car, she was going to get soaked. Bowing her head and squaring her shoulders against the rain, Ally prepared herself for pneumonia, or the flu, or hypothermia at the very least.

"Dawson! Hey- hey, Dawson!" she turned around to see who had called her-though she had a sneaking suspicion who it was already, since only one person called her by her last name-and found Austin walking towards her, an umbrella in hand. Lucky him.

"Austin? What are you doing here?"

"I go here," he answered as he let her into the shelter of his umbrella, a small smirk on his face.

"Oh," was her quiet reply. She felt slightly guilty for not knowing that, but in her defense, she and Austin didn't talk about their personal lives much. Their conversations usually consisted of playful bantering and Ally's latest bad date story. "Well, why didn't you tell me? If I'd known you finish class at the same time as me we could've carpooled to work together, much better for the environment. Plus, it could have saved us both a ton of gas money. I mean, I love my job and the restaurant, but being a waitress really doesn't pay well. And I help my dad manage the restaurant and handle all the bills and all that, so I know your paycheck isn't _that_ big, too. And maybe we can eat lunch sometime. Together, I mean. Obviously we both eat lunch every day, but alone. Or, umm, not _alone_ , alone, like, with friends, alone. Our own, separate friends, that is. But if sometime your friends are busy or whatever you can eat with me. If you want to, that is. But I totally get it if you wouldn't want to, y'know? Like, if you go home to eat, or if you're studying, or making up a test, or- you know what? I'll stop talking now," she cut herself off when she saw the amused smile on his face. When most people were nervous they bit their nails or tapped their feet. _She_ tended to chew her hair and talk a lot.

"It just never came up, I guess," Austin said. "And I usually walk to the restaurant, so my low paycheck doesn't have to suffer because of the gas prices. It's cheaper, better for the environment and it gives me a chance to clear my head a little. Might've been smarter to drive today, though," he looked ruefully at the downpour around them.

"So… other than the fact that we go to the same school, what else don't I know about you?" Ally asked him after they sank into an awkward silence.

"Well…" he pondered for a moment, "my middle name is Monica."

"Knew that," she dismissed Austin's words with a wave of her hand, trying to ignore how adorable he seemed with the tips of his ears turning pink from embarrassment.

"Really? How?"

"I told you, I help my dad manage the restaurant. I may have peeked into your employee file." Ally sent him a cheeky grin.

"Okay, then. Did you know that… my favorite food is pancakes?"

"I guessed as much when you tried to convince my dad to make pancakes available all day, not just for breakfast. C'mon, Austin, you gotta try harder than that."

"Fine. This is something I haven't told anyone, Dawson. _No one_ knows what I am about to tell you, and I'd rather it'll stay that way after I tell you, understood?" his expression turned serious, but the playful gleam was still in his eyes.

Ally nodded. "I'll take your secret with me to the grave," she told him, half solemn, half joking.

"I originally started working at Dawson's because…" Austin stopped talking, red flooding his cheeks.

"Oh, get on with it. I promise I won't tell anyone," she shoved him lightly with her shoulder.

"I know, it's just that you'll laugh." Austin was red enough to make a tomato jealous.

"I promise I won't. I bet it's not even that bad."

"Okay. I started working at Dawson's because I had a crush on…" he breathed in deeply. Ally felt her heart jackhammering in her chest. Was Austin finally going to proclaim his true love for her? Not that she really cared; after all, she barely even had a crush on the guy. Pfft, she never wondered what it would be like to kiss him, why would anyone think that? "…Cassidy. We went to the same high school and I really liked her, so when I heard she worked at Dawson's I decided to get a job there to spend more time with her."

Oh. Ally found that she _did_ care, quite a bit, actually. "Umm, that's… that's really sweet, Austin. I wish a guy would start working someplace just to spend more time with me."

"Maybe some guy does do that, but you just don't know," Austin offered. Ally scoffed. "Austin, the only guy my age who works at the restaurant is Dez, and he's madly in love with his girlfriend." She suddenly realized something. "I thought Cassidy and Dallas were together since they were sixteen. Didn't you know she had a boyfriend?"

"I never really had the courage to talk to Cassidy before, and Dallas went to different school so I didn't find out about his existence until after I started working."

"Then why didn't you quit? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you didn't, but it seems kind of pointless to keep on working if the girl of your dreams is taken."

"First of all, I wouldn't exactly call Cassidy the _girl of my dreams_. More like a girl I once harbored slight romantic feelings for. And let's just say, I found other reasons to stay," he gave her an indecipherable look. "And the pay isn't all that bad, despite what other people might think," he shot her a pointed stare, and just like that, the atmosphere was light and playful again.

A car whizzed passed them, spraying them with water.

"Oh, come on," Ally whined. She managed to turn around just in time, so none of the books she was carrying got damaged by the water, but she ended up with her back and her hair soaking wet.

Austin, who was standing farther from the road and only got slightly wet, tried to comfort her, "At least you only have one shift this evening."

"Trish and I traded shifts, so I'm pulling a double shift tonight and she's covering me tomorrow so I can go on my date with Connor. Ugh, this date hasn't even started yet and it's already ruining my life. I'm bound to catch a cold by Saturday."

"Say, Dawson, why do you go on all of these dates if they all end up disastrous?" Austin asked, his tone once again serious.

"Well, I haven't really had a steady boyfriend for more than a month since my senior year high school-"

"I remember the bloke you dated then. Always hung around at the restaurant, couldn't tell the difference between a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Griffin, or something like that," Austin cut her off.

"Gavin, actually," Ally corrected him. "So, as I was saying, I hadn't really dated anyone in a while, so it would be nice to be with someone. And who knows? Maybe I'll find my Prince Charming on one of these stupid blind dates."

"But did you ever think that maybe you aren't finding your Prince Charming _because_ of these dates? Like, what if, hypothetically speaking, a guy liked you but he couldn't ask you out because every time he turns around you're on a different date? Or if a guy walked up to you right now and asked you out? You'd have to say no because you already have a date tomorrow." Austin's eyes had that indecipherable look again.

"Well, if you know of a guy who wants to ask me out, send him my way, because that hasn't happen in, like, forever," Ally replied. They had reached the door of the restaurant and Ally made to walk in before Austin caught her arm. "Dawson, just… just be careful on your date tomorrow. And any other dates. Don't put your heart out on the line, don't let it break easily."

Ally nodded, and they both entered the restaurant.

* * *

Connor had told Betsy to tell Gloria to tell Ally that he wanted to meet up on Friday at seven. Ally had asked Gloria to tell Betsy to tell him (he apparently didn't trust new age technology such as phones) that she was working that evening, and was he free any other time? And that the phone was actually invented in 1876, so it wasn't really _that_ new age. But Connor was busy every other night with book club, or golf club, or bridge club or any other type of club one could think of. He also said to tell her that even if phones weren't necessarily new age, ' _they were always listening_.' Ally wasn't really sure who ' _they_ ' were or why in the world they would care about her and Connor's date plans, but she dropped the matter nevertheless.

And so, since Connor couldn't meet up any other night, Ally traded shifts with Trish and came to Dawson's on Friday night, sat down at her favorite table (in the corner, right by the big window that overlooked the boardwalk Dawson's was at) and waited for Connor.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

By eight, Ally was absolutely furious. She had rearranged her whole schedule and spent two shifts with wet hair (though he had no way of knowing that) for the guy, and he couldn't bother to show up on time. The nerve of that man!

By nine, Ally already had planned out an entire speech which she would yell at Connor as soon as he came in and then she would march out triumphantly, as a happy, powerful, independent woman. She had also gotten pats on the back from Cassidy and Trish, who had delivered a hot chocolate from Austin, with a note written in messy scrawl: _For the cold you're bound to get tomorrow ;)_.

By ten Ally was desperate. The hot chocolate Austin had sent her via Trish was getting cold. She couldn't bring herself to drink it, as she was feeling nauseous. _Please show up_ , she mentally begged Connor. _Please don't humiliate me like this. I promise that I won't even yell at you. Just show up._

By eleven, half an hour before closing, Ally was close to tears. While she had been on many horrible dates, never in her life had she been stood up. The restaurant was nearly empty of clients by now, save for a couple that was sharing a dessert, giggling and acting all cute and, well, couple-y. Was it bad that she kind of wanted to throw their dessert out of the window?

She kept on sitting there, even after the couple left and the staff started cleaning up.

"I'm sorry, Ally," Trish came up to take her untouched hot chocolate mug away.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I even knew the guy anyway." Her throat felt constricted and she had to struggle to get the words out.

"You know what will make you feel better?" Trish set the mug back down on the table and sat down across from her. She grabbed Ally's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Ice cream, a chick-flick marathon and the eradication of all men?"

Dez, who walked by them to put out the trash, heard Ally's words and scurried away with a terrified squeak.

"Close. I was thinking about a successful date," Trish said, her tone quiet and somewhat apologetic.

"I don't know, Trish. I think I might exit the dating scene for a while," Ally pulled her hand from Trish's.

"Come on, Ally. A good date will make you forget about all the bad dates you've had recently. And the guy I'm thinking about is perfect for you! He's a total nerd, just like you. Err, no offence," she added at Ally's affronted look. "He even likes the same tumbling website you do!"

"You mean Tumblr?"

"Yeah, that. And I'll make sure he knows that if he doesn't show I'll make him jump rope with his own guts. So, what do you say?"

Ally looked over at Austin, who was cleaning the bar with a dish rag. His words from yesterday rang in her head _Did you ever think that maybe you aren't finding your Prince Charming because of these dates? Like, what if, hypothetically speaking, a guy liked you but he couldn't ask you out because every time he turns around you're on a different date?_. But the only guy she wanted to be asked out by on a date probably thought of her only as a co-worker slash friend slash little sister (or maybe he thought she was a weirdo but refrained from saying anything since he worked for her father). She fingered the note he sent her earlier and then nodded decisively. "Fine, you can set up a date." Besides, Trish was her best friend, the person who knew her best. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

 ** _Cough, everything, cough._**

 **Okay, so if you're mad at me, please don't kill me (though if you are planning on killing me, could you make sure to do it before eight a.m. tomorrow? I have a math test I really don't want to do).** **Anyway** **, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update, school has been egh.**

 **I'll do review replies next time, I really do have to study for my exam, as it's super important (important enough that the school has given us the day off to study). For now I'll just say thank you all so much and that I really appreciate the reviews, they make me all warm and tingly and happy inside.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely rest of the week!**


	4. The Walking Meme

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

 **In case you were wondering, yes, this is just basically a bunch of memes incorporated into a conversation. I also made a** ** _High School Musical_** **reference, so see if you catch that.**

* * *

"Well, aren't you just a cinnamon roll!"

"Umm… excuse me?" Ally looked up at the person who had just called her a sweet pastry with cinnamon. It was a guy who looked about her age and seemed to be wearing an assortment of fandom related clothing. His hair was black (though the roots seemed to be light brown, so it was probably dyed) and messy, and he had round glasses and if she squinted, she could just make out a –badly drawn– lightning shaped scar on his forehead. He also had a Captain America zip up hoodie, open over a white t-shirt that had _Winter is coming_ handwritten on it in black sharpie. In his hand was a hat Ally recognized as one worn by a main character in a Disney Channel TV show she once watched with her nine year old cousin… something that has to do with gravity, she thinks.

"Are you the kind of person who looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you, or are you the kind of person who looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll? I mean, Trish described you as an actual cinnamon roll, but you never know, am I right?" he laughed, "I mean, you might seem like a sweet little Hufflepuff, but what if you're actually, like, a Lord Voldemort kind of person, you know? What house are you, by the way?"

"Ravenclaw," Ally answered. "Umm, are you Trish's friend Todd?"

"That's what most people call me, but actually, I'm Sherlock Winchester, the Doctor," he said with a weird hand flourish and a bow (or was it a spasm? She wasn't sure). "And I assume you're…" Todd –Sherlock? One of the Winchester brothers? The Doctor? – paused for a moment, squinting at his hand, "Sally Doosom?"

"Ally Dawson," she corrected.

"Perfect!" Todd waved his hands in the air, and Ally noticed some smudged writing on the one he squinted at earlier. He sat down, setting his satchel, which had a storm trooper's helmet design on it, beside him and stuffing his hat into it.

"So, what is the most important quality you look for in a companion?" Todd asked her after they ordered. Ally was slightly surprised at this relatively normal question, considering the… _interesting_ way the evening has started. "Someone who can make me laugh, definitely," she answered, and she couldn't stop her eyes from flicking towards the restaurant's bar, where Austin was chatting amiably with Dallas.

Todd proceeded to ask her a series of question while they waited, ranging from what had been her favorite subject at school (music, with creative writing a very close second), to what she would if she was locked in a room by mistake (probably scream for help). Finally, he nodded, "So you're the Eleventh Doctor kind of person, huh? Interesting. Are you sure you're a Ravenclaw and not a Hufflepuff? Because Eleven is a Hufflepuff."

Ally wasn't sure how to respond, but apparently that didn't matter, as Todd didn't give her a chance to answer before he continued talking, "You know, I wasn't actually sure if I should come tonight, but my brain was like, _Go to the date tonight_ , and I was kind of like, _But why? I want to stay home and binge watch Merlin_ and my brain just went, _You gotta. And also, Trish will kill you if you don't show up_ , and here I am."

"Okay?" Ally couldn't tell if he was actually insulting her, or just trying to incorporate the _you gotta_ meme into their conversation. Either option was fairly odd.

Just then, Trish came with their food. Todd took a bite of his Spaghetti Bolognese and then began nodding wildly and making excessive hand gestures. "Good shit. _Go_ _౦_ _ԁ_. _Shit_. That's some good shit right there, right _there_ , if I do say so myself. I say so, that's what I'm talking about, right there, RIGHT THERE! MMMMMMМНOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Good shit!" he yelled.

"Thanks," Ally mumbled, sinking lower in her seat when the whole restaurant turned to look at them, due to Todd's outburst. Her dad even poked his head out of his office door to see what the commotion was about. When he caught Ally's eye, he waved jovially before going back inside to continue his paperwork. "It's my grandmother's secret recipe."

"You know, my friend used to make this really awesome Bolognese, and every time I would ask for the recipe he would be like _It's a secret, my family had it for generations_ , but one time I came over and I saw a jar of readymade Bolognese sauce open on the counter and he was cooking it, and I was just like, _Why the fuck you lyin'? Why you always lyin'? Hmm, oh my god! Stop fucking lyin'!_ " Todd made excessive hand gestures again to narrate the story, and accidentally dropped his fork. He bent down to pick it up, and let out a gasp. "What are thooooooosse?!" he asked.

Ally looked down and saw him pointing at her shoes. Her black, high heeled, perfectly normal shoes. "I think they're Armand Bianchi. They were a birthday present from Trish, and Bianchi is her favorite desi-" Todd cut her off, "So, what do I have to yell if I lose you in a crowd?"

"Pardon me?"

"If I were to lose you in a crowd, what would I have to yell so that you'll pounce out of the crowd, yelling excuse me? Like, for example, once my friends lost me at some party so they just did this," Todd stood up on his chair, cupped his hands to his mouth, and yelled "Snily is better than Jily. And after they yelled that I was just like, _Excuse me!_ and I almost punched a wall," he finished, still standing on the chair and talking down to her.

Ally looked around and saw that, once again, the whole restaurant was looking at them. A few people seemed to be trying to hold in their laughter. Trish face palmed before coming over. "Todd. Sit. Down!" she growled, punctuating every word. When he did as she asked, Trish sighed as if asking for patience and asked them with forced cheeriness, "Can I get you two anything? Something to drink, maybe?"

"I'M ALWAYS A SLUT FOR COKE!" Todd yelled at full volume – _again_. Really, did he have only one volume mode? Hadn't he heard of the inside voice?

"Yeah, okay, I'll get you a coke," Trish sighed again. She mouthed a _sorry_ to Ally behind his back.

"So, where were we? Ah, yes, Snily and Jily. Speaking of Snily, I was walking the other day, and a saw a lily that looked like a snail-" Ally wasn't sure what that meant "-and I was like _Aww, a snail-lily, a snily_ _–_ oh, thanks, Trish _," he paused for a moment to take a sip of the coke Trish had brought him, "_ and then I just _Ew, Snily, I must destroy this in the honor of Jily_ , but then I was like, _this little snily probably ships Jily too. It isn't its fault it's named after Snily._ And then I just went _This snily –_ _the snail-lily, not Snape-Lily–_ _is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure_ , and I took a picture of it on my phone. Do you want to see? I also have a picture of me, dressed as a dog, walking my dog."

"No- no, thank you. That's fine," Ally forced a smile.

Todd narrowed his eyes, "Okay...that sounds fake... but okay." Suddenly his eyes lit up, "Oh! Do you have any rare Pepes?"

Ally shook her head.

"You see, the other night I was sitting on my bed, scrolling through Tumblr, and I stumbled upon a super rare Pepe, so I was, like, screaming and reblogging, and my dog started barking, and then my roommate and his girlfriend were like _Shh, we're trying to sleep_ , and I was like _Bitch, please,_ 'cause we have super thin walls, and they, like, go at it all the time, and they're really loud, so I just took a wooden spoon and a pot and started banging the pot with the spoon and I was like _I didn't get no fucking sleep 'cause of y'all! Y'all not gonna get no sleep cause of me!_ and then… uh… and then _they_ started banging," he finished somewhat lamely, and Ally winced at his crude language.

"Speaking of my roommate, you wouldn't believe what happened the other day. His parents came to visit us, and I was talking to them about my latest invention, the knork. You see, I duct-taped the tips of a knife and a fork together, and I was showing to his parents. I was all like _You've heard of the spork, now get ready for the knork_ , you know, like _The knork, straight out of my brain,_ and the dad was all like, _Young man you have a real problem. I said young man, my son tells me you're either on your phone all day, or making weird inventions,_ and then his mother goes _Oh, honey don't hound him too much, all men are idiots when they're young_ , and then me and my roommate and his dad are all like _Not all men!_ and she's like _You're right. Obama was probably never an idiot_ , 'cause she's like weirdly obsessed with Obama, has his picture in her fridge –yes, I mean _in_ , not on– and everything. And then after the 'rents left I turned to my roommate all like _And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day to his parent's: Lewis, what's good?_ And he like, took a deep breath and was like _I just, I lo-_ and I went _yes, you love your parents we know, you love your parents so much, they're the light of your life, you love them so much, you just love your parents, we KNOW , you love your parents you fucking love your parents ok we know, we get it, YOU LOVE your parents. WE GET IT._

"So, what do you think about dogs?" Todd changed the subject abruptly.

"They're cute, I guess. I'm allergic to dogs, actually, so I never think of them much. Unless they're in close proximity. Then I sneeze a lot and kind of curse their existence. Maybe if I weren't allergic I would adopt one, but I've always been more of a cat person-"

"Hoe, don't do it," Todd interrupted, but Ally, slightly offended at the derogatory term –which she was pretty sure was part of another meme– continued, "-so maybe I'd adopt a cat."

"Oh my god!" he yelled in exasperation, throwing his arms up.

"I have a cockatiel and a hamster though, since they don't activate my allergies, and so I don't think a cat or a dog would be a very good idea, seeing as they'll probably eat or terrorize my current pets."

Todd had an indecipherable look for a moment as he observed her. All of a sudden he stood up, grabbing his satchel and scouring the table. He apparently didn't find what he was looking for, for he picked up his plate –which was still mostly full, as he spent most of the dinner time talking– and dumped its contents into the satchel, saying "I'm sorry, I have to go. Something came up. Also, your restaurant should invest in breadsticks."

After he rushed out the door, Ally headed to the bar, where Austin and Dallas were giggling –as in, full out, schoolgirl giggling. Didn't they have anything better to do than sit around all day and laugh at her failed love life?

"So Dawson, how was it?" Austin asked once he and Dallas had calmed down.

"I felt as if I was on a date with 2015 Tumblr itself," she answered dryly. This caused the other two to start laughing again. "Oh shut up," she grumbled, lightly hitting Dallas on the arm and then turning to Austin, "My dad doesn't pay you to sit around and laugh at my failure of a love life all day. You might as well do your job, and get me something to drink."

Still chuckling, Austin leaned on the bar. "What do you want to drink?"

"Ugh, something that will make me forget this whole evening," Ally moaned dramatically.

"No can do, Dawson. First of all, this is a respectable restaurant, not some sleazy bar, so the strongest thing I have here is, like, a fifteen percent wine. Second of all, there is no way I'm giving you an alcoholic beverage with your dad just around the corner."

She snorted. "Please, I know the menu has a few alcoholic beverages on it every Friday night for happy hour, _and_ I've heard you brag about your 'James-Bond-worthy' vodka martini. Plus, my dad won't know, he's holed up in his office all night." when she saw Austin wouldn't budge, she groaned in frustration. " _Fine_. Could you please make me my tea?"

"Sure." Austin started preparing ginger and cinnamon tea.

"Oh! Don't forget to leave the spoon in," she told him as he stirred.

Austin chuckled, "Sure thing, Dawson."

"So, how did it go?" Trish sidled up next to her.

"He said the word 'like' _way_ to many times, he spoke in run-on sentences, and it seems as if he has all of Tumblr memorized by heart," Ally deadpanned. "He also talked a lot," she added.

"If he talks a lot by your measures that must really be a lot," Dallas commented.

"What are you trying to say? That I talk a lot? Because I don't. Talk a lot, I mean. Well, _sometimes_ I talk a lot, but that's only when I'm nervous. It started when I was a little kid, actually. Usually, though, I talk for a normal amount of time. I mean, then again, what is the definition of normal. Your normal could be different from my normal, which could be different from Trish's normal, and-"

She was cut off by a warm hand covering her mouth. "We get it, Dawson. You _don't_ talk a lot."

Ally blushed as Austin removed his hand from over her mouth. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be," he smiled at her.

Trish cleared her throat, "Well then, I understand that the date didn't go so well?"

Ally shook her head ruefully.

"So what I'm hearing is ice cream, a chick-flick marathon and the eradication of all men?" Trish offered.

Ally laughed slightly. "Ice cream, a chick-flick marathon and the eradication of all men," she agreed.

* * *

"Hey, Ally?" Trish asked after they finished their third movie that night.

"Mmm?" Ally replied sleepily.

"Did you ever think why all of your dates end up horribly?"

"I think it has something to do with the fact that you all keep setting me up with weirdos," Ally told her.

"I'm not talking about Odd Todd or any of the recent ones-"

"Wait," Ally cut her off. "You set me up on a date with a guy nicknamed _Odd Todd_? And you actually expected it to go well?" she glared at Trish as she spooned ice cream from the tub in her lap into her mouth.

"Sorry," Trish had the decency to look sheepish. "But the point is that you've actually gone on dates with a few pretty decent guys in the past, and you haven't given them a chance, and I was wondering… maybe it was because you... lkstn," she mumbled the last part.

"Excuse me? I couldn't hear you there." Ally took another bite of her ice cream.

"I thought that maybe you like Austin."

"Wh-what?!" Ally choked on her ice cream.

Trish waited until she stopped coughing. "Don't you though?"

"What in the world would make you think that I like Austin?" Ally finally asked.

"Well, I don't know exactly. It's just the way you are with him. You… you laugh more when he's around, and you seem happier."

"I laugh with you, too. That doesn't mean I harbor any romantic feelings for you," Ally told her, trying to ignore the niggling voice in the back of her mind telling her to tell Trish the truth.

"Are you _sure_ about that?" Trish flipped her hair dramatically and batted her eyes jokingly at Ally. They both giggled before Trish sobered up enough to ask, "But in all seriousness, if Austin were to bust down the door right now, confess his undying love for you and ask you to marry him and move with him to… Hawaii or something, can you honestly tell me you'd say no?"

"Okay, first of all, you have watched too many romance movies. We're watching an action movie next. And _not Zaliens_ ," she added when Trish perked up. "Second of all, I would say no to something like that even if Harry Potter or George Clooney were the guy in question, so _obviously_ I would say no if it was Austin. I'd probably ask my dad to fire him too, because busting down my door and proposing to me at…" she checked the clock on the wall, " three a.m. is more than a little cray-cray."

"Okay, so maybe not that. But if Austin would come up to you tomorrow and ask you out, would you really decline?" Trish persisted.

Ally was silent for a while, staring off into the distance, and the only noise to be heard was squeaking as her hamster, Lord Maximillian Von Chubs (Maxi for short), ran on his hamster wheel.

"Ally? You still here?" Trish prodded her gently, fearing her friend was lost in thought.

"Yeah, I'm here," she answered. "Look… if Austin were to ask me out I would probably say yes. But it doesn't matter because he won't actually ask me out, so really, there's no point in discussing this. Hey do you want to watch _The Avengers_? I think I have it somewhere," she made to get up, but Trish stopped her.

"So why don't you ask him? You've always prided yourself in being a strong, independent woman, so show that you really are."

"Because he'll obviously say no!" the words came out louder than she had intended, and Maxi, scared by her outburst, stopped running on his wheel and hid inside the little plastic house in his cage. "Sorry," she apologized to Trish, "I didn't mean to yell. It's just… I'm not… I'm not Austin's type. All the girlfriends he'd had since I've met him were tall and confident and basically the exact opposite from me. And he doesn't even call me by my first name, y'know. He's never really shown an interest in me." her heart really shouldn't be hurting as much as it is right now. It's not heartbreak, no, but it's pretty damn close, for something as simple and insignificant as an unrequited crush.

"Look, Ally, I can't tell you what to do, but I think you should either ask Austin out or get over him. It won't do you any good to be hung up on a guy and not do anything about it. Just remember that.

"Now," Trish continued, all seriousness gone from her voice, "I belive you said something about _The Avengers_?"

Ally laughed slightly and got up to search for the movie.

* * *

"Heeeeey, Ally," Dez greeted her with a too bright smile a few days later as she entered the restaurant to start her shift.

" _No_ ," she told him forcefully, going to pick up her apron and notepad from behind the bar. She waved slightly to Austin, who was busy entertaining two busty blondes. He waved back and gave her a half smile before turning back to his audience. _Yeah, I'm definitely not his type_ she thought as she remembered her conversation with Trish a few nights ago.

"You didn't even hear what I had to say," Dez whined.

"So you weren't going to set me up on another blind date that, with my track record, is bound to end in disaster? Because honestly, Dez? I'm really tired of this, of getting my hopes up every time, only to see them crushed by another stupid guy." her eyes were stinging with unshed tears, because really, this whole process was starting to get really frustrating.

"Well, yeah," Dez admitted lamely. "But it's different!" he scrambled after her as she marched away and caught her arm. "You know my girlfriend, Carrie, right?" she nodded. "So her sister, Piper, has this friend who got dumped by his girlfriend a month ago, and he's been really down ever since. I was thinking that maybe a date with a sweet, smart, beautiful girl like you would make him feel better."

Ally narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you trying to flatter me into agreeing?"

"Maybe a little," Dez smiled cheekily. "Doesn't mean it isn't true, though."

Ally looked towards the bar, where Austin was quite obviously flirting up a storm with one of the two blondes. _Either ask Austin out or get over him_ , Trish's words echoed in her head. Since there was no way Austin would ever say yes if she asked him out, she had to go for the second option. And it would never hurt to help a guy who was in a slump over an ex-girlfriend, right? "Fine, you can set it up," she told Dez.

* * *

 **And, done!**

 **Okay, so first of all, I want to apologize for taking so long to update. School has been hard, and it's exam season, so I spend most of my days holed up in my room, trying to cram for whatever test I have next. Still, I'm really sorry for the delay. I'm hoping to update more once summer officially starts, which is next Thursday after I finish my last exam.**

 **Secondly, I don't really like this chapter. I feel like it's all over the place, but I'm too tired to rewrite the whole thing. So, sorry for… whatever** ** _that_** **is as well.**

 **I'm working on a few oneshots (three or four), so I might post something before I post the next chapter from this.**

 **I'm not doing review replies again because I feel like I haven't updated in so long so it would just be weird…? Idk. But anyway, thank you all for the compliments, they make me smile like an idiot each time I read them. Constructive criticism is also always appreciated. Just one thing: LoveKirsty asked how long this was going to be, and I think it's going to be about seven chapters and** ** _maybe_** **an epilogue.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading!**

 **P.S.: I changed the summary, so I hope that didn't throw you off.**


	5. The Exploiting Rat

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

* * *

For the first time in her life, Ally E. Dawson was ditching class.

Okay, so _technically_ it wasn't considered ditching, since she had notified her professor beforehand and had full permission –or really, the professor just laughed and said something along the lines of 'whatever'– but the point was that she wasn't in class when she was supposed to be in class! Really, someone should put up a monument to commemorate this historical event.

And yet, Ally was finding it hard to be giddy at this extreme rule breaking of hers (well, extreme in her opinion) because of the reason she was ditching in the first place; all day long she had an intense headache building up, and finally, she couldn't take anymore. Her plan was to go home, pop in an aspirin pill or two, and sleep until it was time to get ready for her date with Dez's girlfriend's sister's friend. Simple and foolproof.

Unfortunately, she forgot to make her plan Austin-proof (though she would have thought that foolproof would suffice); "Hey, Dawson!"

She turned around and saw Austin waving her over, a pretty, dark skinned, unfamiliar girl by his side. With a heavy heart and pounding head, she made her way over to them.

"Dawson, this is Kira Starr, a friend of mine. Kira, this is Ally Dawson. Her dad's my boss," he introduced them. The small glimmer of hope Ally had felt when Austin introduced Kira as his friend was quickly shot down. Okay, she was supposed to be getting over him, but it didn't mean she wasn't hurt when he introduced her as the boss's daughter. In his opinion they weren't even _friends_? He didn't even call her a coworker, just said that her father was his boss, making her sound like some needy thirteen year old everyone had to be nice to so they won't get fired.

"Kira's visiting Miami for the week and I'm giving her a tour," Austin explained. "She arrived today, so I took her to the zoo, and I just finished showing her around campus. I was thinking of taking a day off this weekend and taking her to the everglades," he flashed Kira a charming grin.

"Well," Ally plastered on the most pleasant –and fakest– smile she could manage, "I'll leave you to it. So if you'll excuse me…"

Kira returned her smile with a genuine one of her own, "It was nice meeting you, Ally."

Austin, on the other hand frowned, perhaps because of the weird way her face was contorted (she wasn't really succeeding with that smiling thing). "We're heading to the restaurant, want to join us?"

"Oh, I really wouldn't want to interrupt," she tried to politely get away.

"It's not a problem, we'd love right have you with us, right Kira?" Austin exclaimed cheerfully. Kira nodded, possibly a bit less merrily than him. Ally winced at his loud tone.

"Okay," she agreed feebly.

Austin led the way to his car, and Ally mentally sighed at the thought of walking all the way back here to pick up her car later. Kira got to sit shotgun, so Ally had to spend the –thankfully short– ride in the back, completely excluded from Austin and Kira's conversation.

When they got to the restaurant Austin asked Gus for a table for three – _why_? Why did the universe absolutely hate her? All she wanted was a moment of peace. They sat down and he asked Kira what she wanted to drink and then went to talk to Harper, the girl who replaced him on his days off.

Ally and Kira shared an awkward smile, before they both turned to watch Austin yammering to Harper urgently. "Poor girl," Ally muttered to Kira, "he's probably trying to give her exact directions on how to prepare the drinks." Kira laughed politely but didn't answer, her eyes still set on Austin.

Ally's head throbbed, and suddenly she couldn't stand being next to Kira, with her flawless looks, or next to the oh-so-oblivious Austin. She got up abruptly, murmured an 'excuse me' to Kira and headed towards the kitchen. Hopefully there was some kind of soup in there.

She nearly bumped into Austin, who was on his way back with drinks. "Wha- hey, Dawson, where are you going?"

Ally merely shrugged, though she felt slightly bad when she noticed one of the three drinks he was balancing precariously in his hands was a mug with the spoon still in it.

She made a beeline towards the kitchen, leaving a confused Austin behind her.

* * *

Three hours later she exited the kitchen for her date. She probably looked awful, having no time to get ready, but with her headache worsening by the minute, she couldn't care less.

Austin and Kira were still at their table, laughing at something. Ally studiously ignored Austin's attempt to catch her eye.

Dez, who had accompanied her out of the kitchen to help her identify her date said, "There he is," and led her to a table in the back, occupied by a single guy.

When he looked up, Ally's first impression of her date was that of a giant rat. His blond hair was so pale it was almost white; his ears were higher up and more protruding than a normal person's; his eyes were small, watery and nearly black, and he was looking around nervously; his nose and chin were both long and pointy, and the tip of his nose was even pink and twitchy.

"Hey dude," Dez greeted him. "Kirden, this is Ally Dawson. Ally, this is Kirden Piper. Have fun, you two!" he left, but not before calling over his shoulder, "Just don't have _too_ much fun!"

"So… Kirden, huh? That's a really unique name. Umm, I mean, not that it's not nice or anything, because it is. Nice. Kirden is a really nice name, but it's really unique as well." Ally cringed. Great, she was making things awkward on the very first minute of the date. There had to be some kind of prize for that.

"Thanks," Kirden's voice was high and nasally, almost like a squeak, "My parents like special names: my sibling's names are Frieda and Jaxton."

"That's nice," Ally tried to smile. All she wanted to do right now was to go home and sleep for a week.

They spent a few minutes in silence, looking at the menu before Cassidy came. "Hey guys, I'll be your waitress tonight. Do you know what you'd like to eat tonight?"

Ally ordered a vegetable frittata while Kirden decided on Dawson's special Three-Cheese Pasta, "with extra cheese". He also ordered a pitcher of ice water.

"So…" Ally tried to make conversation, but then noticed the Kirden was busy texting. She would have usually felt offended, but right now she felt grateful that she didn't have to talk. She wondered how rude it would appear if she were to set her head on the table and close her eyes, but decided against it. Instead she focused on a certain spot on the wall behind Kirden, trying not to move. Every time she moved her head she felt as if someone was hitting it with a giant hammer.

Thankfully, Kirden stayed busy with his phone until their meals arrived. He seemed to sniff every forkful he took before putting it in his mouth, his nose quivering each time he lifted his fork up to take a bite.

Ally tried to make small talk with him once or twice, but Kirden was still preoccupied with his phone and only gave her one word answers or grunts –well, in his cases squeaks– so she gave up. Instead she secretly observed Austin and Kira. _Their_ date (friendly or otherwise) was apparently going quite swimmingly, as opposed to hers - perhaps because they were actually talking to each other. Heh, she bet Kira never had an awful date in her life. After all it made sense; perfect smile, perfect face, perfect body, perfect Miami tour guide, perfect love life. And what were Austin and Kira still doing here anyways? Didn't Austin say he was giving Kira a tour around Miami? Correct her if she's wrong, but Ally always assumed that touring involved seeing places, not sitting around at a restaurant for several hours, doing next to nothing.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kirden looking up from time to time, but he always glanced at the door rather than at her. Maybe he was texting someone to come save him from this horrible date. Whatever. Ally couldn't bring herself to care.

They almost finished eating when it happened; a windswept looking girl stormed into the restaurant and marched straight towards Ally and Kirden. She glared at Ally for a moment, sizing her up, and then turned to Kirden. "So _that's_ the girl you're seeing?"

"Err, excuse me," Ally waved her hand slightly, and the girl turned to her, "umm, who are you?"

She immediately regretted the question. The girl's whole face turned red and she appeared to swell to twice her size, making Ally shrink into her chair in fear. "Who am I? _Who am I_?" the girl thundered. "You actually have the nerve to ask me who I fucking am?"

"Well, yes?" the words came out as a frightened squeak. Then, realizing she probably sounded like Kirden, Ally straightened up a bit and tried to look braver than she felt in front of the girl, who couldn't have been much larger than her. "You see, we," she gestured at Kirden and then at herself, "are on a date, and you're kind of interrupting, so if you could save this for another time…" she trailed off as the girl glowered. If looks could kill, Ally had a feeling she'd have died about fifty, sixty times in the past ten seconds alone.

"How _dare_ you?" the girl nearly shrieked, and Ally cowered back into her chair with a small 'Eep!'

The girl's eyes left her, but Ally could only feel a second's relief from being freed from under the girl's glare, before a shock of cold and wetness came over her. "That's for going on a date with my boyfriend, you bitch!" exclaimed the girl, a smug expression on her face.

The restaurant, which was previously filled with the chatter of people trying to politely ignore the drama in the corner of the room, or perhaps gossiping about it, turned deathly silent, except for the low sounds coming from the kitchen. And then the quiet snickers and the soft gasps erupted. The sounds resonated in Ally's head, echoing louder and louder, though not loud enough to drown out Kirden's voice. "So does this mean we're back together?" he squeaked. The last thing Ally saw before her eyes blurred with tears was everyone else's eyes on her, some gazes pitying, others amused.

She was shivering, but not just from the ice water that had been spilled on her. Humiliation washed over her, wave after wave, as she tried to stifle her tears. She had worn a white shirt today, and now it was most likely see-through. Her makeup was probably running and her hair was wet and frizzing, making her look like a deranged raccoon. There was an ice cube somehow stuck in the back strap of her bra, just in the place she wouldn't be able to reach without taking her clothes off. She felt something hot trickle on her face; silent tears had started flowing down her cheeks. Hopefully they would blend with the rest of the water that was already on her face and no one would notice.

Ally felt someone raise her to her feet and gently guide her through the restaurant, one hand on the small of her back and the other a comforting weight on her shoulder. She heard a door open and close, and her father's worried voice; "Ally? Honey, what happened? Why are you wet?"

Ally blinked away her tears. She was standing at her dad's office, her father looking at her in concern. She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Austin, who had led her here, answered instead of her. "It's a long story, Mr. Dawson. Is there any place Ally can dry off?"

Her father was silent for a second, appraising the situation. Maybe he thought it was Austin's fault she was completely wet. May he had heard the commotion coming from the room beyond and realized it had something to do with his daughter's current state. Whatever his conclusion was, he finally waved at a door behind him. "You can take her upstairs."

On the second floor of Dawson's there was a tiny apartment. No one lived there permanently since it was impossible to take more than six steps in it without hitting a wall, but Lester stayed there from time when he worked late into the night and he was too tired to go home, and Ally had stayed there once when her apartment building was being fumigated.

When she and Austin reached the next floor they stood in the small hallway of the apartment which had three doors leading from it, not including the door they had come from. Austin turned to her quizzically. "Which door belongs to the bathroom?"

"Left," Ally tried to say, but it came out so weak, and he couldn't hear her. She cleared her throat and repeated the word. This time Austin heard her and entered the bathroom, while she went through the opposite door to the bedroom, leaving it open behind her.

She sat down on the bed and stared at her lap, watching the water drip from her hair.

Austin came in and threw her a towel. "Here," he said gruffly and sat down on the edge of the bed, as far away from her as he possibly could. He almost seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder (if she wasn't freezing, and if her head wasn't pounding so hard she might have congratulated herself for that marvelous pun, but all she could do was smile weakly for a second).

They sat silently while Ally toweled herself off. She saved her face for last, knowing that when it was dry, there would be no way to hide the tears, which were still steadily flowing. Finally, she couldn't stall any longer, and she buried her face in the towel, trying to stop crying. "Oh my God," she moaned into the towel.

She heard the bed springs squeak as Austin got up. "Do you have any spare clothes here?"

Ally nodded, her face still buried in the towel.

"Okay, and is there a kitchen behind the last door?"

She nodded again.

Ally heard the sound of footsteps and then a door being slammed shut. She slowly lifted her face from the towel and tried to calm herself. _Okay, so you got humiliated on another date. No big deal. Not something that hasn't happened before._ She realized that Kirden had been using her to make his ex jealous, and that she was probably the person he had been texting all night, but really, it was no big deal. It's not like she was interested in him in the first place. She only went on the date because Dez had begged her to do so –and to get over Austin– so no harm done. Except for being embarrassed in front of the whole restaurant, but who cares anyway?

When she finally managed to get a hold of herself –which took a while because she was absolutely awful at pep talks– she went to the small wall closet and took out a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. She changed quickly (finally getting rid of the ice cube that was stuck to her back).

Ally opened the door when Austin knocked, and he silently handed her a cup of tea. She tried to take a sip, but her hands were shaking so hard she sloshed a bit over herself –yay, wet _again_ – so she set it on the nightstand.

She looked up and saw Austin staring at her, his lips pursed and his eyes hard. "Just spit out, Austin," she sighed.

"I warned you, Ally! I fucking warned you not to go on so many of these blind dates so that your heart won't get broken! And what do you do? You go on date after date and expect the outcome to be different! Will you never learn?" he yelled, and every word felt like a mallet to her head.

Ally felt angry; who was he to judge her for going on so many dates? He practically had women tripping over their feet for a chance to talk to him! "Learn what? That men are assholes? Because you're a prime example right now! And I went on this date because Dez asked me to, since Kirden was in a slump over his girlfriend breaking up with him, not because I was hoping for a relationship with him. How was I supposed to know he was just using me to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, huh? And anyways, just because _you_ have people falling for you left and right, doesn't mean we're all just as lucky romance-wise; some of us have to try harder than just flashing a smile!"

Austin opened his mouth to retaliate, but Ally was suddenly drained. "Look Austin, I've had a really long day and my head is killing me. This shouldn't matter to you anyway; after all I'm just your boss's daughter, right?"

For a second he looked prepared to continue the argument, but then Austin nodded curtly and left. Ally winced as he slammed the door shut. She sent Trish a quick text asking her to feed Owen and Maxi before she lay back on the bed, and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

Ally stayed off work for a week and half, recovering from the bout of flu she had apparently caught.

A week after she came back Dallas called her over to the bar, where he was sitting. Austin avoided her eye as she approached. Ever since there argument they hadn't exchanged words other than job related conversations (the highlight of today was: "I need a hot chocolate and two glasses of Merlot." "Sure.")

"Dallas, is this important? If you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of busy," Ally asked, gesturing to the extremely crowded restaurant behind her.

"So Ally, I was thinking that in light of… recent events and the past failures of all your dates," Ally winced –Dallas could be slightly tactless at times– "I might have the perfect person to set you up with," he sent her a charming, please-don't-kill-me-for suggesting-this grin.

A crash sounded, making both Ally and Dallas start.

"Sorry, my fault, broke a glass" Austin apologized. "I'll try to be more careful in the future, wouldn't want anything else _breaking_ around here." The look he sent Ally –the first time he had looked directly at her all week– was extremely meaningful.

Well, she didn't care what he thought. "Sure, what's his name?"

Austin stalked off to get a broom, and Dallas scratched the back of his head nervously. Perhaps he was worried about upsetting Austin; they were rather good friends. "Riley. But I was thinking that maybe the date shouldn't be here."

"Really? Why? Does your friend dislike free food?"

Dallas shrugged noncommittally.

"Okay… so where would he like to meet?"

"You know South Beach Lounge?" Ally nodded. It was a fairly known night club. "So Riley will meet you there next week at eight, cool?"

"Okay," Ally answered and headed away from the bar as she saw Austin coming back, a broom in hand and a scowl on his face.

* * *

 **Okay, so as usual, I'm sorry for not updating. I had writer's block, and this took forever to write. To be honest, I don't love this, but I can't make it any better, and you all have gone long enough without an update, so I hope it's good enough.**

 **Anyways, how has school started for you all? Are you enjoying it (as much as it's possible to enjoy school)? Which grade did you start? I started senior year, which, while easier than junior year, is still very difficult.**

 **Fun fact: Kirden's name is basically a play on words of sorts, because Kirden is like cirdon which is rat in Kurdish (and I just now realized it might be with a soft c (an s sound) instead of a hard c (a k sound), so if any of you speak Kurdish let me know) and Piper as in the** **Pied Piper of Hamelin. So yeah, I just pulled a JK Rowling *pops imaginary collar*. Speaking of JK Rowling did anyone read The Cursed** **Child? I _need_ to discuss it with someone, so if you're in the mood to you can PM me or whatever…**

 **Also, I know that the professor's reaction to the fact that Ally's missing class seems mean, but in university attendance is much less important than in school (I asked my dad, who's university professor himself).**

 **I can't promise to update soon, because we all know how well that went, but I can promise to try. Feel free to remind me to update, because, unless it's school related, I usually need to be forced to do things. If you guys want, I can open up a Twitter or Instagram account, where you can all tweet or comment or whatever to remind me.**

 **So, thank you for all your patience, and I hope I'll be able to update soon.**


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